Kavota Deported, But Asylum Plan In Works

Idea To Ask Belgium For Assistance Follows Family's Emotional Goodbye

July 01, 1999|By DAVE SCHLECK Daily Press

NORFOLK — Melody Kavota made her last desperate call to prevent her husband from being deported Wednesday night. She said her last goodbye. She savored his last embrace before sending him down the Norfolk airport hallway to his plane - and to a future that could mean death in the political unrest of his native country.

As she wearily watched the plane's propellers begin to spin, the cell phone in her hands began ringing.

It was her husband's immigration lawyer.

The attorney had come up with a last-minute plan for her husband to file for political asylum in Brussels, Belgium, one of the stops on his flight to Africa.

"Stop the plane!" Mrs. Kavota demanded as the jet rolled back from the gate. "The lawyer says she'll talk to the pilot if she has to."

But it was too late.

The plane sped out of sight. Melody Kavota would have to reach her husband when he changed planes in New York City an hour later.

That was the climax of a suspenseful day for the Kavota family, and yet another emotional chapter in the long, complicated story of Vahwere Kavota's quest to become an American citizen.

Mr. Kavota married his American-born wife in October 1997 and is helping her raise her three young sons and college-age daughter in Hampton. Most immigrants are allowed to stay in the United States during the year or more it takes to apply for residency as the spouse of an American citizen.

But since April 1998, the Immigration and Naturalization Service has been trying to deport Kavota in a case that stems from the expiration of his student visa in 1994.

The 41-year-old immigrant admits he has made some mistakes in the application process but, he says, the INS has also mishandled the case.

Because of his past political activity in his home country, he is worried that he will be murdered when he returns to the former Zaire, now called the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Political factions are fighting within the country, and English- speaking visitors face terrorist threats, according to the U.S. State Department.

Mr. Kavota had hoped that the Immigration and Naturalization Service would repeal a deportation order against him or grant an extension to Wednesday's deadline, although the federal agency had already given him several extensions.

By midday, Mrs. Kavota was feeling the desperation - waiting for a hopeful phone call from her attorney.

"It's a matter of life and death right now," she said.

Three church members from Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Hampton helped bring the Kavota family to the airport Wednesday afternoon. Church member Linda Benda stood in disbelief as Mr. Kavota checked in at Norfolk International.

"This man is a pillar in our community," she said, mentioning his regular church attendance and volunteer work. "Yet he's the kind of person we deport."

The family had to hurry to the plane, although Mrs. Kavota needs to use a wheelchair because of recent knee surgery. At the gate, she made more calls to her lawyer and to Rep. Robert C. Scott, D- Newport News, to see if he could use an act of Congress to save her husband.

But she didn't get any good news, and it was time to say goodbye.

Her husband gave her a phone number to call him when he is in the Congo. He has siblings who live there, but phone communication is unreliable because of the civil war, he said.

Inside the airport waiting area, friends gathered around the Kavota family and sang a blessing: "May the Lord ... give you peace and hope and courage along the way."

Brave faces that had held back tears gave in to the sadness of the moment. There were many hugs. But when it was time for boarding, 10-year-old Michael wouldn't let go of the man he calls Daddy.

"I love you guys," Kavota said as he pulled away, disappearing down a stairway toward the plane.

Mrs. Kavota said she had never discussed her husband applying for political asylum in Belgium until his attorney, Denise Maniscalco, called her Wednesday at the airport.

If the plan works, Mr. Kavota will be able to stay in Belgium while his residency claim is processed in the United States. If not, his flight is due to arrive in the Democratic Republic of the Congo at about 9 tonight, or about 3 p.m. Eastern Time.

Maniscalco said it would probably be at least 90 days, but possibly a matter of years, before Kavota will be allowed to return to the United States.

Who is to blame for breaking up the Kavota family?

Immigration officials could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

But Ernestine Fobbs, spokeswoman for the Washington district office of the INS, has said previously that immigration officials are enforcing a judge's deportation order that resulted from Kavota's own actions.

The Kavota case is more complicated than it may seem.

Mr. Kavota admits to making several mistakes since coming to the United States in 1990:

* He waited three years after his student visa expired in 1994 to seek permission to live in the United States. He said he was holding out hope that the political situation in his home country would improve.

* He missed at least one appointment with immigration officials in Norfolk. Kavota said he was late to the meeting because his wife was ill.

* He did not properly follow a deportation order in 1998. As a result, an immigration judge issued another deportation order saying Kavota could not return to the United States for 10 years.

Valerie Broadsky, a Norfolk immigration lawyer, said although she does not know all the details of Kavota's case, there's usually plenty of blame to go around when it comes to deportation orders.

"The alien makes mistakes by not filing things correctly, and the INS and everyone else who has touched the case has made mistakes," Broadsky said. "The problem is that little errors can end up turning into tremendous hardships."

Dave Schleck can be reached at 247-7430 or by e-mail at dschleck@dailypress.com